


i want to fucking tear you apart

by rainbowshoes



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, First Order Poe Dameron, M/M, did not tag to avoid spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:53:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29774379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowshoes/pseuds/rainbowshoes
Summary: poe was once part of the kijimi spice runners - but rather than joining the new republic defense fleet, he ends up with the first order insteadthis fic will follow hux and poe through their climb in the ranks as hux attempts to gain as much power as he can while poe sticks steadfastly by his side and manages his own demons along the way
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. 19 ABY

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't include tags because they would spoil pretty much the entire story
> 
> if you have a specific concern [please ask](https://shyglittercreature.tumblr.com/)
> 
> its pretty fucking dark in later chapters so if that's not your cup of tea turn back now
> 
> further note - there will be a lot of time skips as this fic progresses

Poe knocked on the door and waited, hands stuffed in his pockets. The hotel was upscale, that was for sure. He certainly didn't look like he belonged in a place like this. If the guys who'd called for him didn't hurry up and get the door, security would probably show up and escort him out. It would be a toss up whether or not they searched him first. 

Luck was on his side. The door opened. The man on the other side was older than Poe had expected. He was also in some sort of military uniform. Poe didn't recognize it. It looked like something out of one of the old holovids his dad had shown him of the Empire, though. It made him want to laugh. 

"Come on in, kid." The man opened the door wider and stepped back. Poe went inside. There was already a lot of alcohol spread out along the bar across the room, and the little table in front of the couch had what looked like stims and other drugs. Clearly these guys were prepared to party hard. 

"You've got the credits, right?" Poe asked. 

The man nodded and smiled. "Of course." He led Poe further into the room. There were five men, including the one beside him, and one much younger teenager, maybe a couple years younger than Poe. He already looked drugged to the gills where he sat on the low couch beside one of the other men. 

"You guys look like you're having a good night." Poe fished the large container of red powder from his pocket and held it up. "This ought to keep your party going."

"Two thousand credits, as agreed," the man beside him said with a broad smirk. He offered Poe a slim card. Poe traded him for the box and quickly scanned the card with his comm. The money was all there. He shoved the card into a different pocket. 

"Why don't you come join the fun?" The man on the couch had his arm around the teenager. "Mitaka won't mind. He's a good boy. Very obedient. Isn't that right?" The teenager didn't say a word. He was too far gone, Poe realized, his pupils blown wide. 

One of the other men laughed. "Give him some spice to get him going again," he said. "It'll make him squirm for us." 

"That kid's barely conscious," Poe argued. 

"He knows what he signed on for," another man said dismissively. "If you don't want to play, then leave." 

Poe clenched his hands into fists. The teenager was still staring at him. He looked like he was two seconds away from passing out. Poe knew what these men intended to do to him. He watched as the one beside him blatantly groped the poor kid. The teenager barely reacted, twitching only a little. His eyes never left Poe's. 

Since he'd been with the Kijimi spice runners, Poe had seen a lot of really fucked up bantha shit, but this had to be one of the worst. He couldn't just stand by and let it happen. He wouldn't. 

In a flash, he darted forward and slammed his fist into the back of the head of the man who'd paid him. He went down hard, and Poe kicked him in the balls for good measure. He jumped at the next closest man and landed a hard punch in his gut, knocking him back a step. He followed that up with a kick to his shin and another punch to his nose. With that man down on his knees, Poe turned to the other three. Two were already standing and ready to fight. 

Poe kicked out at the first to reach him. His boot connected solidly in the man's chest. The man fell back and crashed into the table. The drugs and bottles scattered across the floor. Poe couldn't regain his balance quickly enough. The next man punched him hard in the cheek. He was sober, so he recovered faster. Poe's fist connected with the next man's nose. It crunched. Blood began to dribble down over the man's lips. The man swung again. His fist hit Poe's mouth. It knocked Poe on his ass. 

Poe sucked in a sharp breath. He rolled to his side to avoid a kick to his ribs. His hand landed on one of the legs from the broken table. He snatched it up as he scrambled to his feet. He lashed out at the man. It connected solidly against the man's temple. He crashed hard to the floor. He bowled over one of the other men who had been trying to get up from the floor. 

The last man looked like he didn't want to fight at all. Poe was breathing hard and his hands were shaking from excess adrenaline. But he didn't want to keep fighting. Instead, he bent and liberated a blaster from one of the men on the floor. He switched it to stun. The man before him held up his hands in surrender, but Poe didn't care. He'd been about to rape that poor kid. He shot him point blank and watched him fall backwards to the floor in front of the couch. He turned and quickly shot the other four as well to ensure they wouldn't get up anytime soon. 

He kept the blaster in his hand but lowered it down to his side and walked over to the kid, stepping over the guy on the floor. He sat beside him. "Hey, kid. Mitaka, right?" That got him a very shallow nod. His pupils had nearly engulfed his entire iris. "Is there someone I can call for you? Anyone you trust?" He didn't want to leave him here like this, even if it meant more trouble for Poe later. 

"Cap…" Mitaka murmured. Poe leaned closer so he could hear him better. "Captain Hux." 

"Captain Hux?" Poe asked. Mitaka nodded very slightly. "Okay. Okay, I can try and call him for you. Do you have a comm or anything?" Captain of  _ what _ Poe wanted to know. But that wasn't important right now. 

"Pocket," Mitaka hummed. He leaned closer to Poe and shut his eyes once his head was on Poe's shoulder. 

Poe sighed and lifted an arm to hold up Mitaka so he wouldn't fall. "Okay. I'm going to reach into your pocket and get your comm. Nothing else, all right?" Mitaka hummed against his shoulder, so Poe shifted him to the side enough to pat at his thigh. He was lucky enough that Mitaka's comm was on the more open side and he didn't have to move him too much. He wiggled his hand into Mitaka's pocket and fished out the comm. It was a little awkward with the way Mitaka was pressed against him, and with what he knew those men had been planning to do to him, but Poe tried not to think too much about it. 

Comm in hand, he settled back against the couch and flicked through it. He found an 'A. Hux' in the directory and hoped that was the right Captain Hux. It buzzed twice before the other end connected and the holoprojector appeared. 

"Uh, hi. Is this Captain Hux?" He brought up his hand to dab at the blood he could feel pooling in the corner of his mouth. 

"This is," the man answered, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Despite the late hour, he still looked perfectly put together. His hair was slicked back and he looked to be wearing a similar uniform to the men on the floor. "Who are you and what are you doing with Ensign Mitaka?" 

"My name is Poe." He wouldn't give him more than that, not now. "I found him like this. He uh, he asked for you. Sort of needs you, if you can come and get him. He's pretty messed up."

"Sorry, Captain," Mitaka slurred, rolling his head to look at the projection. "Rear Admiral Rylan and Admiral Folget insisted." 

Captain Hux sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with gloved fingers. "Where are you located?" 

"Coruscant Hotel in Canto Bight," Poe answered. "Eighth floor, room two-two-four." 

"Give me five minutes," Captain Hux said tersely. The holoprojector feed cut out, and Poe was left with the impression that Captain Hux was young - maybe just a few years older than he was - and that he had cheekbones that could cut glass. 

Mitaka leaned closer to Poe, snuggling against his side. Poe rubbed his arm a little. "Your Captain is on the way. It'll be all right." Mitaka said nothing, and Poe wasn't sure Mitaka was even conscious any longer. 

The room was a mess now, and Poe sighed heavily. He'd just gotten himself into a world of shit. Zorii had warned him he'd end up fucking himself over like this one day. He knew better than to call her or any of the others for help. He wasn't a rat. They'd beaten that lesson into him pretty well. He was on his own to deal with whatever fall out came from this. He just had to hope this Hux guy would understand why he'd done what he had and would be on his side about the whole mess. It wasn't exactly like Poe could afford to pay for the damages in the room, either. 

There was no fucking way he was going to let them hurt this kid, though. No one deserved that. Poe wasn't a good person, not really, but that was too much even for him. He'd happily shoot anyone who tried to fuck him over or screw up one of his deals, that was just business. But what those men had been planning to do - what they had invited Poe to do, as well - was so much worse. 

He sighed to himself and settled on the couch a little more, letting Mitaka snuggle up against his side. He didn't mind as long as the kid felt comfortable. He was probably passed out by now anyway. From the window, Poe could see a portion of the fathier races that were ongoing, but he couldn't see the finish line or the scoreboard. Red fireworks exploded across the sky, and he wondered if that meant anything in particular. He'd never really spent much time in Canto Bight before. He'd been planning to sneak around a bit before he left, maybe hit up some of the less reputable gambling halls, but he knew that plan was a bust now. He poked at his face where the most tender places were to make sure nothing was broken. While it hurt, he was pretty sure he would only have some pretty bad bruises. 

Three sharp knocks on the door startled him out of his thoughts. He gently shifted Mitaka to the side far enough to allow him to stand, and then he pushed Mitaka back against the cushions so he hopefully wouldn't slump over to one side. He hopped awkwardly over the men on the floor and jogged the last few paces to the door. The little security viewport on the door showed the face of the man from the call earlier - Captain Hux. He was taller than Poe had expected. 

"Captain," Poe said with a cheerful smile as he opened the door. Hux's narrow eyes narrowed further as he stepped into the room and shut the door behind himself, taking in the damages and the fallen bodies. 

"Well, they don't look dead," Hux said dryly. "That's unfortunate." 

Poe snorted. "I mean, I got no problem giving them a hotshot or something, but I didn't want to catch that much heat, you know? I'm already gonna be in a world of shit for all this mess." He grimaced as he toed aside another piece of the broken table. 

"What happened? Who are you and how did you come to be here?" Hux walked straight to the bar across the room and began to make himself a complicated drink that involved far too many bottles. "I assume my ensign is merely passed out?"

"Uh, yeah, he's high as a kite. Not my doing." Poe walked slowly over to the bar to join Hux. "I, uh…" He rubbed at the side of his neck. "You gonna bust me if I admit it?"

Hux raised one pale red eyebrow at him. "It doesn't appear very likely, does it?" He sipped at his drink, then added a twist of juice from a bright purple fruit, and had another sip before nodding once. "Give me an explanation with all the details, then I shall decide upon the best course of action." 

Poe didn't like that. But he also didn't see where he had much of a choice. He sighed. "One of those guys on the floor contacted me about a delivery of some spice. I brought it, they paid, then they invited me to  _ join the fun _ ." He grimaced. "That kid over there is too high to blink, much less actually agree to whatever they wanted him to do. That didn't sit right with me. Guess I've seen too much fucked up shit lately and it all rubbed off." He shrugged. "I beat the crap out of them, then stunned them. Mitaka said to call you." 

"Nothing less than I expected," Hux said, staring at the floor where the table had shattered. He looked at Poe. "The way I see it, you have two options. You can do as I say and then come work for me, or I can call the authorities and let you try to get out of this on your own."

Poe clenched his fists. "I don't even know who you are." 

"Captain Armitage Hux of the First Order," he said simply. He then tugged a datapad from his pocket and flicked through it. "It wasn't difficult to identify you, Poe Dameron. Wanted on at least four planets for a variety of offenses - selling illegal substances, racing, theft, murder, assault, resisting arrest. The list goes on." He looked up at Poe. "I can make it all go away, and I can offer you far better career opportunities than running spice." 

"How did -" Poe gaped at him, then shook his head. "What even is this? Why are you offering me a job? Who does that? I just beat the shit out of your guys!"

"Well, they aren't particularly worth much," Hux said with a shrug. "I'd like to dispatch them and have some of my own people installed in their places." He slipped a skinny vibroblade from out of his  _ sleeve _ of all places and left his drink on the bar. "You're quite a good pilot, and I happen to need one at the moment. Consider it an opportunity." He stepped away from the bar and bent down beside the first man, stabbing him neatly through the temple in one swift move. His expression didn't change. 

Poe watched as Hux stood and moved to the next body. "I don't understand. I - I am completely and totally lost, here. What the hell is the  _ First Order _ ? I've never heard of it. And you just expect me to join, no questions asked? And be, what, your inside man?" 

"The First Order is an autocratic military junta that formed from the remnants of the Galactic Empire and was born in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy," Hux said dispassionately as he stabbed the next man in the temple. "We do not have a planetary capital. Our Supreme Leader rules from his ship, the  _ Supremacy _ ."

Poe had recoiled at the mention of the Empire. "My parents fought for the Rebellion, I'm not joining anything that's part of the kriffing Empire." 

Hux stabbed the next man before standing and turning to face him. "That is a choice you can make," he said with a nod. "Though I would advise against it. We may have been born from the ashes of the Empire, but we are not the same. We are purer, stronger. Even now, the Centrists of the New Republic are beginning to align with our ideals. They have not seceded from the New Republic yet, but they will. It is only a matter of time. Besides, I have it on good authority that your cell leader, Tomasso, is an informant for the New Republic and is selling all of you out to line his own pockets." 

Poe sucked in a sharp breath. "Tomasso wouldn't do that." 

"Oh? Then why the conflicts with so many other syndicates lately? Isn't it normal to only operate within your own territory and not to interfere with other syndicates unless you're in the middle of a declared war? I was under the impression there were rules to these things." 

"Not always," Poe said weakly, even as he thought of the way Tomasso had killed the Zualjinn high commander, even though it was supposed to be a diplomatic mission. They'd had to go and rescue his dumb ass. Even though Poe's piloting on that job had been what had finally made them recognize him as one of them, none of that operation had sat well with him. 

Hux regarded him blankly. "Know this, Poe Dameron of the Kijimi Spice Runners: if you join us now, I will never lie to you. You may not approve of my choices or my methods, and I may lie, cheat, and steal to achieve my goals, but to those in my inner circle, I am honest." 

"So why me?" Poe challenged. "You don't know me. You have no reason to trust me."

Hux walked over to him and held out the vibroblade. It was red with blood. "I have fanatically loyal soldiers who would die for me or kill for me if I asked it of them, but the nature of their conditioning does not always give them the perspective I require. Not long ago, my father brought to the First Order a warrior from Parnassos and had her trained as one of us - and she has become invaluable to me. I need more people like that, people who have not been raised under the influence of the First Order and can therefore think outside of it. I have a talented warrior, and now I need a pilot." He flipped the blade so that Poe could grasp the handle. "Kill the last two men and get Mitaka. We will leave this room and I will send someone to take care of the mess. You had no reason at all to give a damn for Mitaka's life and safety, yet you mercilessly beat five men bigger and likely more well trained than yourself to protect him. For now, that is enough of a reason for me to trust you. Betray me, fail me, and you'll die. It is that simple." 

Poe could feel his heartbeat in his ears. He looked at Mitaka again. He'd slumped over to the side and was watching them both through hazy eyes. 

"If you need further incentive, you will be given a TIE fighter and I can personally guarantee your rank will begin at Junior Lieutenant, with the wages and private quarters to go with it." 

Poe thought of the rumors he'd heard that his dad had contacted someone to track him down and bring him home. He couldn't go back - he wouldn't. He stared at the blade. Well. Dad had always wanted him to join the navy. It just wouldn't be the navy he'd hoped for, would it? 

He took the blade. Hux smirked. 

He felt nothing at all as he stabbed through the temples of the last two men. It was easy with the vibroblade. He barely felt the resistance. He even felt a little bit better after the last one, the one who had been groping Mitaka, was dead. At least he couldn't hurt the kid anymore. He walked back to Hux and gave him the blade, and Hux cleaned the blood from it with a quick flick of his wrist before tucking it back into his sleeve. 

"Whatever weird power trip this is, I don't like it," Poe told him seriously. "You're gonna let me be a pilot?"

"You'll act as my personal pilot," Hux said, a touch of arrogance in his tone and the tilt of his head. "Otherwise, I expect they'll see which squadron you fit into best. Judging from some of the holovids I watched on my way over here, I'd say Midnight might want you for his Omega squadron, but we shall see. Nevertheless, it is unlikely a day will go by when you are not piloting something." 

Poe took a deep, slow breath. All he'd ever really wanted was to be a pilot. Simple dreams for a simple person. He wasn't so simple anymore, sure, but - as long as he got to pilot, that was enough. "Okay."


	2. 21 ABY pt 1

Hux sat back in his chair and looked out at the void of space he could see from the viewport in his office. He spun the kyber crystal in his hand over and over again, thinking hard. Eventually, there was a knock on the door. He pressed a button on his desk, and it opened to admit Poe Dameron, kitted out in his black stormtrooper armor. Hux glanced at him as he entered the office and the door shut behind him. 

"You would fail inspection," he said idly. 

"Good thing I'm not here for that," Poe said with a grin. He sat his helmet on Hux's desk and tugged off his gloves before scraping his hands through his sweaty hair. It was too long - again. "Where are we going this time?"

"Ilum," Hux said. He tapped at the terminal on his desk and a screen appeared to one side. Poe's eyes narrowed as he studied the star map. "Sector 7G of the Unknown Regions." He placed the kyber crystal on the desk between them. "It was mined extensively for kyber crystals during the time of the Empire."

Poe picked up the kyber crystal and turned it over in his hand. "And we're headed there why?" 

"It is to be our new base of operations. I'm building it into the planet itself. Supreme Leader Snoke has already approved my designs, and once it is complete, I'm sure to get another promotion out of it." 

"Power hungry bastard, aren't you?" Poe asked with a soft laugh and a shake of his head. Hux didn't answer, but he didn't have to. "Okay, sure. When are we set to leave? I'm just about maxed on flying hours for the day." 

Hux opened a desk drawer and grabbed one of the bottles of stims he had stashed inside. He set it on the desk in front of Poe. "I won't mention those if you don't." Poe swiped them and shoved them into his pocket before Hux could blink. "We'll leave as soon as you pick a ship." He tapped at the terminal again and brought up the current manifest. "Anything that is currently docked may be considered available for use. Nevermind if it's assigned to someone else. Light arms, shielding, comfortable enough to sleep in if you don't mind. We'll be gone for a week or more." 

"Wish it was this easy all the time," Poe murmured, flicking through the pages of the manifest. "What's the climate like?" 

"Frigid. Primary terrain includes crystalized glaciers, ice plains, mountains, and forests. Notable fauna include Asharl panthers, gorgodons, razhaks, and snowfeather birds."

Poe scoffed. "Snowfeather birds are tiny." 

"They're Force sensitive and can cause hallucinations. Not to mention they're poisonous. Not deadly, no, but enough to make one violently ill." Hux watched as Poe flicked back one screen and studied one of the transport shuttles. "Have you made your choice, then?"

"This is our best bet for what you want. Big enough to sleep in, small enough to be maneuverable in tight places, it can handle the long trip, shields, couple of small guns, and plenty of storage for the crap we're going to need to survive a week on that terrible planet." 

Hux rolled his eyes. "It's only a bit of ice." 

"I'm from Yavin IV - give me rain and heat and humidity any day. I hate the cold." Poe made a face as he selected the ship and entered Hux's override code to claim it for their use. It probably should have bothered Hux that Poe had that code memorized, but he didn't particularly care. If Poe had bothered to learn it and memorize it in the first place, he could reap the benefits from it. 

Hux thought of Jakku and the dry heat of the desert, of the great patches of dunes and empty nothing, of running in burning sand until his feet were bleeding, of fighting the other children day in and day out for the promise of a scrap of food, the memory of Arkanis already faded and distant, even then. He shook away the memories and sent an order to some droids to pack up their supplies - including thermals and parkas for the both of them. 

"You have half an hour to shower and change," Hux said. "Meet me in hangar 32-E when you're finished." 

"Sure, okay. Can I bring BB with me?" 

Hux rolled his eyes. Poe had become inordinately attached to a BB-9E unit. He'd claimed it as his own, refused to have its memory wiped, replaced half its parts with glaring orange machinery, and had essentially weaponized it to attack anyone who went near his TIE fighter or came near him personally. It had nearly attacked Hux with its shock prod once, but Poe had stopped it in time and had taught it not to harm Hux - that was the only reason Hux allowed the little menace to continue running about. It still performed its duties whenever Poe wasn't nearby, as well, so Hux tolerated the aberrance. 

"Is that really necessary?" Hux asked with a sigh. "Wouldn't you rather it guard your TIE?"

"Well, if I bring BB, he can watch the autopilot so I can get some sleep, and he can guard the ship while we're on Ilum." Poe smiled brightly at Hux and leaned closer to him over the desk. "And he's got this neat little feature now, too, but I'll have to show you." 

"Fine. Bring the kriffing droid." Poe stood up straight with a tiny laugh. He tossed one hand up in a cheery wave, collected his helmet and gloves, and headed out of Hux's office. 

Hux took a moment to shut down his terminals and collect his datapad. He ensured his office was in exactly perfect order before he headed to the door himself. It would be nice to get away from the  _ Finalizer _ for a while, even if it meant scouting a frozen waste of a planet. A team of stormtroopers had found it first and had reported back on its present condition, but Hux wasn't satisfied with the information - he needed to see it for himself. Snoke had consented to the excursion with very little argument or even questioning. 

He detoured by his quarters before heading to the appropriate hangar, already flicking through the directory in his comm unit to Phasma's contact information. The droids, efficient as they were, had come and gone.

"Armitage." Phasma's face - sans helmet - appeared before him. He set the comm on a nearby table and grabbed a small bag for a few personal items he knew the droids wouldn't have included. He also took the time to pour himself a glass of Chandrilan Blue '439. "My, my, day drinking at your age?" 

He rolled his eyes. "Dameron and I are leaving for Ilum in less than half an hour. If we are attacked, I'd like for you to know where we are and when to come looking. We should return in a standard week, give or take a few cycles. I've given orders for the ship to be packed to the brim for our survival, but I shouldn't like to rely on standard procedure for this sort of thing." 

"Check in often," Phasma said seriously. "Daily, at least. Twice a day if you can. Cardinal has been… nosey, lately. He suspects something." 

"Cardinal is an idiot and isn't worth worrying over," Hux dismissed. "My primary concern is that my father will attempt to have me murdered in a nice, convenient, out of the way location and rely on procedure to demand that the investigation be closed and put down to some sort of flaw in the machinery or an attack by the local fauna.  _ If _ that happens, take care of it." 

"Of course," Phasma said simply. "Your pilot ought to be made aware of the danger. He cannot protect you properly if he has no idea he's supposed to be protecting you at all." 

Hux sighed. "I suppose you're right." He was reluctant to bring in yet another person into their plans, but he trusted Phasma's judgment. "You believe we can trust him?"

"With this much, yes," she said, nodding. She shifted and Hux glanced at her briefly before focusing on filling a small flask with the strongest liquor he possessed. "Offer him leave to go home. See how he reacts. We can spare him after you return from Ilum. If he goes, we can proceed as planned while he is away. If he doesn't, we proceed anyway, but I vote we bring him further into the fold. It's been two years, and he hasn't had any complaints yet. Send him to me if he agrees, and I'll work on his combat training."

"He'll need it," Hux agreed idly. As a pilot, Poe wasn't expected to engage in ground combat, but if he and Phasma were going to drag him further into their schemes, it would only benefit him. Hux ducked low and opened a drawer, pried out the false back, and took out the case for the long gun he had stashed back there ages ago. He tucked it into the bag as well, and then added an extra few shirts and things to conceal it. He wouldn't risk his own safety on Ilum - if he saw someone else on the planet, he would shoot them. 

"Do you have replacement blades?" Phasma asked. She'd been the one to hone his skill with the vibroblades, improving his speed and accuracy with a blade in each hand. "Don't go with just one set. And take the spear, too. It might not be your favorite, but you're passable with it, and you might need it." 

Hux rolled his eyes and moved to a different dresser to lever up a false bottom and grab two spare vibroblades, which he shoved into the bag, and then he freed the retractable spear from where he had carefully hidden it under his bunk. He waved it a little before shoving it into the bag as well. "Anything else I should bring?"

"Well, if you'd finished that miniaturized blaster you keep going on about," she said with a half smile. "Spare bacta. Never know if they've just happened to forget to restock yours." 

"Should be fine," Hux said, even as he wandered to the 'fresher for the expansive first aid kit and selected the things he used the most often. He dumped the lot into the bag. "We appropriated the ship from someone else."

"Good," Phasma nodded. "Make sure your pilot runs an in-depth check of the systems before you launch, not just what's standard." 

"Why is he always  _ my  _ pilot?" Hux asked, shoving another pair of pants into his bag. "Is it because I found him? Should I start calling you  _ my father's 'trooper _ ?"

Phasma regarded him coolly. "Armitage, the boy is mad for you. I can't believe you don't see that. He flirts with you every time he opens his mouth." 

"He's a pilot, that's how they all are," Hux dismissed. "Technically, they all belong to the navy, not the army, and I am not their commanding officer. They know it, and they want to fuck a captain to mark off another star in their little charts. I'm not an idiot. I just happen to be the most easily accessible captain for many of them, and so I am a constant target. The fact that Dameron acts as my chauffeur and we are involving him in our plans makes for even more opportunities for him. It means nothing." 

Phasma rubbed at her forehead with two fingers. "You may be correct about most of the pilots, I won't deny that, but I don't think Dameron sees you as just another conquest. Want to bet on it?" 

"Not particularly," Hux sighed. Phasma raised an eyebrow. "Terms?"

"Find out if he's fucked any other officers and which ranks they hold. If he tries to fuck you on Ilum and he hasn't fucked a host of other officers, I win, and I'll announce what I want when we meet in person." She smirked. Hux had a feeling he knew exactly what it was. They'd discussed who would kill Brendol - and how - a few times already, and Phasma wanted to do it herself, while Hux felt he should be the one to do it. 

"Fine," Hux said with a sigh. At least Phasma was always specific with her terms. "We'll convene on the  _ Absolution _ one week after my return from Ilum. We have a dejarik match to finish." 

Phasma chuckled. "Don't die, Armitage. It would be very inconvenient." 

"I'll do my best," he said dryly. He ended the call and shoved a few more things into the bag before tucking the strap on his shoulder and leaving his quarters. 

It was a long walk to the hangar where their ship was waiting, but he didn't hurry. He sent Mitaka a coded message to keep him informed of the happenings on the ship in his absence and got a confirmation almost immediately. No one tried to talk to him, but that was fine. Hux knew he wasn't particularly well-liked. He didn't have to be. He only had to be the one with the most power. 

The transport ship was ready and waiting when Hux arrived. Poe was standing outside of it, his helmet on for a change, as he argued with another stormtrooper. Hux approached them, and the stormtrooper in white saluted him automatically. 

"Captain, can you please inform SN-543 that we are taking this ship in the next five minutes?" Poe asked, turning on his heel to address Hux directly. 

"Sergeant, if you will check the updated log for this ship, it will show that it has been assigned to myself and Lieutenant Dameron for our use. You may be the floor sergeant for the hangar, but please do keep current or you will find your position has been given to someone more qualified. Is that clear?" 

The sergeant took a datapad that was brought to him by another trooper and reviewed the information. "Understood, Captain Hux. Please forgive the error. These logs were just updated half an hour ago." 

"Then perhaps you ought to think about updating them every fifteen minutes?" Hux asked archly. "I do believe there was a memo regarding that procedure change last month. Dismissed, sergeant." 

"But… what am I to do about Major Biggs? She was the one who needed this ship." 

"That doesn't concern me. Dismissed, sergeant." Hux turned away from him, and the sergeant reluctantly saluted him before walking away. 

"You're really good at making enemies," Poe murmured quietly as he stepped closer to take Hux's bag from him. Louder, he said, "Ready to go, Captain?"

Hux nodded, and he followed Poe onto the transport ship. Poe secured Hux's bag in a pile of other black duffles similar to it on the floor, and then they took their seats in the cockpit. Hux was already sending Mitaka a message to handle the transport ship situation. 

"Before we leave, do more than the standard security checks," Hux said, recalling Phasma's advice. "Everything you can check, do it."

"Hey, BB, you get that?" Poe called. There were a series of beeps from somewhere behind them. "BB's on it. He'll report anything he finds. Standard checks are all green. Want us to stay in the hangar until he's done? Might take a few extra minutes. We'll fuck up the flight schedule." 

Hux considered that. "Leave the hangar, but don't go far from the ship. Whatever you do, don't jump to hyperspace until after the checks have been completed." 

"Sure, okay," Poe said, though he tipped his head to the side as he looked at Hux. "You really think someone sabotaged the ship?" 

"Later," Hux said, waving a dismissive hand. Mitaka sent back a message saying he'd rerouted Biggs and her crew to a different hangar with an available transport ship and had updated the logs already. Hux told him to inform the floor sergeant for hangar 32-E immediately. He could see the floor sergeant turn to stare at the transport ship in confusion as it drifted through the ion shield. Mitaka sent a confirmation that it had been done, and Hux told him that was all for the time being. 

The BB unit began to chatter about a flaw with the ship's landing systems - something about the auto-positioning and the landing gear being offline. Hux sighed and accessed the ship's internal computers. "Do we need to go back? I can land in the hangar without the computers guiding us. Not having landing gear is going to be rough, but I can do it without too much damage. I can't say the same for what might happen on Ilum." 

"It's nothing," Hux muttered. "They didn't have the time or the privacy to do any real damage." He made the few minor corrections necessary and sat back. "We should be fine. Have your BB unit run another check before we land to make sure." 

"Can do." Poe set the coordinates for Ilum in the ship's computer and launched them into hyperspace. "We've got about a cycle and a half of travel time. Might as well get comfy." He sat back and took off his helmet, shaking out his damp curls. He hadn't even taken the time to shave. 

Hux scoffed. "I should report you to your squad leader." Poe just shrugged. "You could have been promoted to Lieutenant Commander by now, you know. But you consistently fail inspections, and you lack respect for your commanding officers." 

"I follow orders," Poe said defensively. 

"Barely," Hux said, though he was smirking. "Is it the orders you have a problem with, or the officers?" 

Poe was silent while he yanked off his gloves and shoved them inside his helmet. "Mostly the officers. The orders - those all boil down to the same thing. Either it's them telling me to get in my TIE and go blow up some shit, which is fine, sure I don't care; or, they're just trying to posture about stupid shit that doesn't matter. Drives me insane." 

"The only way you will ever get out of that position is to rise in rank," Hux said. "You may have to bow and scrape for a while, but anything worth having takes sacrifice. As lieutenant commander, you have the potential to be fast-tracked for a position as commander of your own squadron. Your piloting skills will see to that. It mostly comes down to your aptitude as a leader. Once you are a commander and have successfully led a few battles with your squadron, then they will consider your position as captain. That is as high as you can go if you wish to remain a pilot, but as you get older you may find the rank of admiral far more attractive." 

"Commander wouldn't be too bad, I guess," Poe said slowly. He continued to tug at the buckles and straps on his armor, setting aside pieces as he took them off bit by bit. "I don't know. I just don't see myself as a leader. I'd rather do… whatever I want." 

Hux barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. "The higher rank you have, the more freedoms you have. More responsibilities, yes, but also more freedoms." 

"That sounds like an oxymoron," Poe complained, dropping the chest piece of his armor off to the side. He bent and began working on the leg pieces. "But I guess I can see your point. I dunno, Hux, most of these guys I fly with? They don't care about anything but the next fight or fucking their way through the ranks. I can see the appeal, don't get me wrong, but I'm one of the few that's had a life outside of the First Order. When they spout all that stuff about bringing order to a chaotic galaxy, I don't think any of them really understand what it means, and I'm idealistic enough to hope it works." He shrugged uncomfortably as he glanced at Hux. "Call me a naive idiot if you want." 

"Naive perhaps, but not an idiot," Hux said. "You're right - they don't understand. Most of them, anyhow." He watched Poe discard the leg pieces and sit up straight with a soft sigh. "You haven't attempted to fuck your way through the ranks as well, then?" 

Poe laughed, tipping his head back against the headrest. He angled his head to the side and waggled his eyebrows. "Why, interested?" He laughed again. "It's not a particular goal of mine, no. I, uh, kind of have my eye on someone in particular, anyway. Hard to get a read on whether or not he's interested, though." 

Hux nodded. "Well, be sure to keep it to your recreational hours, would you?" He stood and headed towards the middle of the transport ship where the majority of their gear had been tied down. He quickly freed the bag he'd brought along last minute and set it to the side, then found the other bag with his name attached to it. He set them both on the small sofa near the tiny kitchenette where they could prep meals if necessary. When he turned, Poe was kneeling by the bags of gear as well. 

"As you might have guessed from the way someone attempted to tamper with the ship, someone would very much prefer it if I did not come back from Ilum." Poe stopped what he was doing and looked up with a serious expression. "I'm reluctant to say more while on the ship, but you should be on your guard for a possible attack." 

"Well, this seems like a good time to show you BB's new trick," Poe said grimly. He whistled, and the BB unit came rolling toward them from a different part of the ship. It stopped beside Poe. "BB, privacy mode." The BB unit whistled a confirmation, and the red sensor light on its head turned blue. 

Poe looked at Hux. "Never getting a single moment of privacy was kind of bugging me," he said with a shrug. "I figured out that BB here has a way to detect if there are recording devices in the area, so with a little tweaking, I was able to rig up a jammer. It's got a twenty meter radius. Not huge, but enough to work with. So, right now, even if there is anything on this ship that's recording us, it isn't working. No signals in or out." 

"I'd like to take a closer look at that," Hux said, staring at the BB unit. "I want a way to detect if that sort of technology is being used and disrupt it, in case someone else had the same idea you did. But this is quite handy. Thank you." He sat on the sofa, and Poe settled himself on a duffle bag. "I have a question before we begin." 

"Go ahead," Poe said, waving a hand magnanimously. 

"Would you like some leave to go and visit your father?" Hux watched Poe's face closely as he looked down at the floor and twisted his fingers together. "I can arrange to give you a month." 

Poe was silent for a long moment before looking up at him. "Not yet," he said at last. "Maybe one day, but not yet." 

Well, that wasn't quite the answer Phasma had expected, but then again, nothing about Poe was what Phasma expected. Hux wondered what they would be like when they finally met in person. "Very well." Hux almost grabbed his comm to send a message to Phasma, but then recalled it wouldn't go through and so resisted. "Phasma and I are going to kill my father when we return from Ilum." 

Poe's eyes went wide. "Why?"

"He's the one who's very likely trying to kill me. It would be extremely convenient for him if I were to meet my untimely demise on this waste of a planet with only one 'trooper - and a half-trained pilot at that - as backup. I cannot be certain if he has sent an assassin or whether he hopes the terrain alone will do the job. I'm certain he is the one ultimately responsible for the flaws with the ship. Regardless, we have been plotting his death for some time now, and Phasma believes we can trust you enough to bring you in on our plans." 

There was a shift in Poe's posture. He sat straighter, his eyes narrowed. His shoulders pulled back. "What do you need me to do?"

"Keep me alive, for now. When we return, we will go to the  _ Absolution _ together. Phasma will begin training you in physical combat. You'll need the skills." Hux pulled at his gloves until they were off and set them on the cushion beside him. "There should be blasters on the ship, though I wouldn't be surprised if someone removed them at the last moment to sabotage us. I will find out who was responsible for everything upon our return and punish them accordingly, but until then, I have a long gun, two extra vibroblades, and a retractable spear."

"I can use a blaster and probably the vibroblades in a pinch," Poe said. "There's guns on the ship, too, if we run into serious trouble." 

Hux nodded. "Phasma will make sure you can use a variety of weapons. Our stay on the  _ Absolution _ will be a short one, at first, but we will return for a much longer stay after my father has been dispatched. You will have plenty of time to learn from her and from Cardinal. I may dislike the man, but he is a good teacher." 

"Why now?" Poe asked. "Why tell me all this now?" 

"It's been two years and you haven't tried to defect," Hux answered honestly. "You've not complained or directly disobeyed orders, and you've remained loyal to me so far as we have been able to verify. I am beginning to shift into the next stage of my plans, and I need another person in my inner circle who will be of a high enough rank to actually assist me with my goals." He regarded Poe coolly. "I can tolerate you as a lieutenant for a while, but if you would merely behave yourself for a year, you could make commander and have your own squadron. Two years from that, you could be a captain. I need  _ admirals _ , eventually, but captain will do nicely for now. Will you do that?"

Poe looked confused. "I don't understand why. Spell it out for me. What's your goal, here?" 

"I want to rule it all." He held out his hand and squeezed it into a tight fist. "I want to become the Supreme Leader, or Chancellor, or whatever the highest title is at that point in time. I will be the youngest general in the history of the First Order  _ or  _ the Empire. I am exactly what you said I was - a power-hungry bastard. I will not stop until I am at the very top. But I will need allies, and I will need those I can trust with my life. I have Phasma." He lowered his hand and looked at Poe's big brown eyes. "Do I have you?"

Poe swallowed hard and nodded his head. "Yeah." 


	3. 21 ABY pt 2

The cycle and a half passed slowly but without issue, and their landing, while a little rough, was no worse than it might have been if the landing gear had not been tampered with. Hux had corrected as many problems as possible from inside the ship, but half the landing gear didn't deploy properly, and they bounced a little on the snow. Thankfully, there wasn't significant damage to the ship. They dressed in their cold weather gear in silence, and Poe left BB-9E in charge of defending the ship from anyone or anything nosing about. 

"Attack mode, BB," Poe said as they stepped out of the ship. "No one gets near this thing except me or Captain Hux. Got it?" The BB unit beeped an affirmative and armed itself with its small shock prod. 

"Crude," Hux said idly, tugging his gloves up higher. "Effective, I suppose, but crude." Poe just smiled and shrugged. Hux stared at his comm for a moment. "The trench should be that direction." He pointed south east. "Let's have a look there, first." 

"Great, trenches," Poe sighed. He tugged his hood up and began stomping through the snow. 

Hux rolled his eyes and followed after him at a slower pace. Poe regulated his steps to match Hux's after only a short distance. "If we try to get there quickly in this amount of snow, we'll only tire faster." The dunes on Jakku had taught him that, more than any live experience with snow. "Keep your blaster at hand. If we do decide on this planet, we'll send in a team to exterminate the fauna, but for now, we must deal with whatever comes our way." 

Poe nodded and shifted the blaster he'd taken from the ship to the holster on his thigh. It was a long, cold walk. Hux was grateful that his boots were properly insulated against the snow. His toes still felt numb despite that. They walked for more than two hours before they reached the trench. 

Hux scanned the area with a set of macrobinoculars. The very bottom of the trench still held some equipment, unsurprisingly. "It looks like the closest lift is 2 and a half clicks east," Hux said. He took out his comm and placed a very careful marker on the map. "I'd like to get down there before we leave, but it isn't an immediate concern." He gave the macrobinoculars to Poe. "For now, I want to see what this is." He showed Poe a formation on the map. "The 'troopers didn't identify it on their fly-by of the area, and I could find nothing in the records. It looks rocky, but the elevation maps didn't show it as being particularly elevated, so I don't think it's a mountain." 

"What do you need all this for anyway?" Poe asked as they turned and began the slow walk towards the spot where Hux wanted to look. It would take almost twice as long as the first trek had taken. "I mean, you've got all those star destroyers. Why have a base at all?" 

Hux wondered if he could trust Poe enough to give him the truth. "In part because we need a central location for our commanding officers to convene and plan, and a star destroyer is too susceptible to attack. There are too many weaknesses. Having a base of operations also makes the First Order as a military operation look more legitimate and less like a bunch of mercenaries." He sneered. "If we truly wish to engage in talks with the Centrists of the New Republic, we need a place to bring them that isn't a ship. It is as much a threat as it is a show of power." 

"Okay, I guess I can understand that," Poe said slowly. "But that's only part of it?" 

It was several minutes before Hux said anything. In that time, Poe walked closer to him and put a hand on his elbow, drawing him to a stop. Without their footsteps crunching through the snow, it was almost eerily quiet. A sole snowfeather bird sang a soft little tune some distance away near the forest that rose out of the ground abruptly to the west. 

"You don't want to tell me because you don't trust me. Is that it?" Poe looked desperately sad, for some reason. Tiny ice crystals clung to his eyelashes under the hood of his parka and made his eyes look even larger than usual.

"It is a matter of how  _ much _ I can trust you," Hux corrected. "I've already trusted you with my plans to end my father's life." 

"And believe me, I am super grateful you trust me enough to tell me about that," Poe said, bringing up his other hand and squeezing Hux's hand between both of his. "That seems super personal, though, and this thing? With the planet and the base? That seems a lot less personal. A lot bigger. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around what it could possibly be or - or mean that you don't want to tell me about it." 

Hux sighed. Phasma was going to make fun of him. He knew it. "Eventually, it is to be a weapon." Poe's eyes went wide. "If you think the Death Star was powerful, this base will be monstrous by comparison. I've already designed it. Finding the exact right planet with the perfect conditions for its construction has been the most difficult part, and it will take years - decades - before it is fully operational. It is called  _ Starkiller _ . It will be a superweapon that is capable of destroying entire star systems." Hux stepped away from Poe, tense and waiting for horror and fear to cross Poe's face. 

Poe's expression was shuttered - entirely blank. "Why?" He took a slow, deep breath. "Why do you need something like that?"

"Why do I want anything?" Hux asked him coldly. "Power. All of it. I mean to  _ rule _ \- the First Order, the galaxy, everything. If you think the New Republic wouldn't do something similar, you are mistaken - my home planet was not the only Imperial holdout they bombed at the end of the war, and if they had a weapon of the same calibur, they would happily use it against their enemies as well. But the victors write history, and they are allowed to deem the actions of their enemies as vile beyond words." 

"That's -" Poe's breath hitched. He bit his lip for a moment and looked away. 

Hux inched his fingers toward the vibroblade hidden in his sleeve. He would kill Poe now if he had to. It wouldn't be difficult to write up a report faking an attack. He didn't want to have to do that, but he would. 

Finally, Poe sighed. "I'm not okay with that. But you said you wouldn't lie to me when I agreed to go with you that day in Canto Bight, and you haven't. And I promised you my loyalty. You still have it." He looked up at Hux. "You also asked for perspective. Here's some, even if you don't want it. This thing you're building? Don't use it. Threaten with it, maybe demo it, whatever. But don't kill anyone with it. It'll turn you into another Tarkin, and even those who are on your side will turn against you." 

"I'll take that under advisement," Hux said slowly, "but at that point, it's very likely it won't be my choice." 

"Then don't let your name be connected with this thing. Be the brains behind it, but don't take credit. Once you have all the power and you've won everything, then you can make it a big reveal if it all works out in your favor. If it doesn't, you can target other people, put their heads on spikes or something." Poe shrugged. "Everyone knows Tarkin was the one to fire on Alderaan. Everyone hated him for it. Everyone was glad when he died. You want power? Don't let that be your legacy. It'll only come back to bite you in the ass." 

Hux tipped his head to the side. "Very well. Consider that noted." He lowered his hands. "Regardless, the base will be built, and we have a lot of walking to do." 

Poe nodded and began following Hux as he turned to keep heading for the rocky spot on the map. Hux was fairly sure Poe muttered, "I am an idiot," to himself, along with something else, but he didn't comment on it. 

They didn't stop until they reached the rocky point Hux had flagged. It was icy and dangerous to walk on, so they paused for a break to eat and hydrate and added some spikes to their boots that would ensure they didn't slip as easily on the new terrain. Hux felt warm inside his parka, but he didn't take it off. He advised Poe not to unzip his when he saw him going for the fastenings on the front. They ventured over the rocks for a while and found several cave openings that were dark and narrow but didn't appear to be entirely natural. 

"What made these?" Poe asked, poking his head inside one of them. He picked up a rock and tossed it deep inside and appeared to be counting the seconds until they heard the echoing clatter as it fell. "It's deep."

"Remnants from old excavations, possibly," Hux said. "Back when they were mining for kyber crystals, they likely drilled in several locations, and we can see the results here where there is less snow accumulation." The winds were higher, here, and the icy plains started just over a ridge to the north. 

"Do you hear that?" Poe asked with a frown. Hux paused and looked up from his comm where he was busy taking notes. It sounded like a scream. "What -"

"Blismal," Hux said with a frown. "You must have disturbed one when you threw the rock. "They aren't particularly dangerous unless they're in a group." The shriek got louder. "Move away from the entrance." Hux backed away from the rocks. "Come here." He waved urgently. "They can cause cave-ins!"

Poe scrambled over the icy rocks as the shrieks increased in volume. The rocks quaked as Hux clapped his hands over his ears. Poe shouted in pain as he tripped and fell, tumbling into the thin layer of snow near Hux's feet and rolling to watch the ground as he, too, covered his ears. 

Almost as soon as it had begun, it stopped. 

Hux waited a moment longer, then cautiously put his hands down. Poe was propped up on his hands in the snow beside him. Hux offered him a hand to stand, then found his comm in the snow and added a few more notes citing the dangers of the Blimals. "Try not to throw anything else while we're here. Never know what you might piss off."

Poe chuckled breathlessly. "Noted." He brushed the snow off his parka and cautiously walked across the rocks once more to grab the bag he'd left behind. They heard another screech, and Poe jogged away from the rocks again, slipping but not falling. Hux jogged with him to get further away. 

"Can we head back to the ship now?" Poe asked, panting and still dusted with snow. "I think I've had enough excitement for one day." 

Hux shook his head. "Ilum's rotation lasts sixty-six hours, which gives us thirty-nine hours of daylight and twenty-seven hours of darkness. I'd rather not venture out at night, not on this planet." He showed Poe the map. "This, here, looks to be a good spot for the initial campsite when we break ground. I need to do a survey of the area first." 

Poe sighed. "Yeah, okay. Let's get going." He shouldered the bag and stretched his arms high over his head. Hux began walking, and Poe fell into step with him. 


	4. 21 ABY pt 3

It took several hours to walk to the potential campsite and several more for Hux to complete his survey of the area. He wasn't thrilled with the location, but it would do. The majority of the planet was covered in thick forest or icy plains of glaciers that would make setting up the campsite far more difficult. He was reluctant to use one of those areas if he didn't have to. Much of it would be cleared eventually, yes, but for the beginning, he wanted it as easy as possible to start everything and get it going. The area was wide and covered in thick snowfall, but it could be packed down without much trouble, and temporary housing could be constructed for the 'troopers in charge of clearing the fauna and beginning the initial excavation. 

Poe helped, doing everything Hux instructed him to do. It certainly made the survey process faster, and Hux was grateful to him. By the time they were finished, they were tired and hungry again, so they sat for a while and had another small meal. The ration bars weren't particularly tasty, but they were filling and easy to carry. 

"The number one thing I miss about not being in the First Order?" Poe said as he stared at the last half of his ration bar. "Real food." 

Hux looked at him askance. "What do you mean by  _ real _ ?" 

"Stuff with actual flavor for one," Poe said. He grimaced as he took another bite of the ration bar. "This stuff tastes like cardboard." He shook his head. "Yeah, sure, it's got all the nutrients and everything, but what's that compared to some flavor? Even artificial flavor! When I was a kid, my mom used to make this pie. It was my favorite thing in the whole world. She always made it for every holiday and special occasion - sometimes she'd make up reasons to bake it. I got to help, sometimes. There wasn't a recipe or anything, though, so when she died, I never got to eat it again. And on Kijimi, there was always so much street food. Most of it was crazy spicy. I built up a tolerance to it really fast. We used to have competitions." He chuckled softly and broke the last of his ration bar in half. "I'd probably kill someone to get a chance to have something like that again." 

The flavorless ration bar sat oddly heavy in Hux's stomach. He'd been raised on ration bars and synthetic foods. The first time he'd ever had anything  _ real _ had been… interesting. He hadn't really known if he'd liked it or not. "Well, rise in rank," he said after a quiet moment where Poe finished his last two bites. "You'll have more freedoms, as I said before. That includes more shore leave. You can go wherever you like and eat whatever you like." 

Poe gave him a small smile. "I can cook pretty well if I have the right ingredients, you know. I might not be able to make my mom's pie, but Dad taught me how to make other stuff. Said I needed to know how to take care of myself." Poe shrugged a little and looked out at the soft hills of snow before them. "I could cook for you, if you want." 

"One day, perhaps," Hux dismissed. "There's little enough time for such idleness." Poe nodded and looked down where his boots were partially submerged in the snow. He kicked out at it a little. "We should start heading back to the ship. Those clouds look like it'll snow again, and I don't want to be caught in it." 

It took only a little time to gather their equipment and stuff it into the bag Poe carried, and they were off again. 

They didn't quite manage to reach the ship before it began to snow, but it didn't begin to snow heavily until they were right at the doors. Poe told BB-9E to stand down and they headed inside to shed their thick layers. Hux sent Phasma a message to check in with her and then headed for the 'fresher to have a quick sonic shower. He preferred hot water - a luxury he had only recently adapted to - but the sonic shower was enough to make him at least feel like he wasn't covered in sweat. 

There was only one proper bed in the transport ship, but Poe had taken the sofa without comment during the flight. Hux had moved his two bags to the small room with the bed. He set his weapons on the bed beside him and inspected each of them, assembling and disassembling the long gun, checking over the vibroblades, inspecting the spear, and even examining the blaster he'd taken from the ship for any tampering. Everything seemed to be in working order, at least. He wouldn't be satisfied until he had checked the other blasters as well, and he cursed himself for not thinking to check them before now. 

A knock at the door made him look up from the long gun in his lap. "Yes?" 

The door opened. Poe blinked and his mouth dropped open for a moment before he snapped it shut with an audible click. "Um. Just wanted to let you know it's pretty nasty outside. The solar panels on the ship aren't getting any charge, so we'll have to conserve as much power as we can. No idea, uh, no idea how long the storm is gonna last, you know?"

"Very well," Hux said with a nod. He slid his hand across the barrel of the gun before settling it into the case along with the rest of the pieces and stood to grab some of his clothes. "Cut all non-essential systems for now. Keep the heating on, but low. We don't want to freeze to death." 

"Right, yeah. Um. Lights?" Poe was still staring at him, his eyes wide. Hux ignored it. 

"We should have emergency lighting somewhere around here," Hux said. "Those will do. They're easier to recharge later." He wore only the skin-tight thermals that had been provided along with the other cold weather gear, but he gathered a set of lounge clothes as well, knowing he would appreciate the extra layers later. "Well? You might want to put on something warmer, while you're doing all that." 

Poe swallowed and nodded. "Right, yeah." He turned and left the small room, checking his shoulder on the door frame. Hux rolled his eyes and tugged on the shirt next. He pulled his sleeves up far enough to secure the sheathes for the vibroblades to his forearms, then tugged them down once more and set about finding a pair of warm socks. His toes were still cold, though he had some feeling to them now, at least. 

As he left the room, he checked his comm. Phasma had thanked him for the update and had asked them about their bet. He sighed and reported that Poe was not interested in fucking his way through the ranks. Phasma must have been in one of the officer's lounges on a break or either had retired to her quarters for the evening because she responded straight away with a question about whether or not Poe had made a move on him. 

Hux frowned at his comm. Poe walked by him as Hux settled himself on the sofa for the time being. 

"Something wrong back on the  _ Finalizer _ ?" 

"Hm?" Hux looked up at him. "Oh, no. Nothing like that." Mitaka had reported that things were going smoothly, actually. Hux had been relieved to hear it. He'd half expected a coup the moment he was away. Not against the First Order, but against him personally. Led by his father or his father's friends, probably. "It's Phasma." 

"Something wrong?" Poe set a lantern on the small counter space for meal prep near the tiny sink and clicked it on, then tapped at one of the terminals. "Cutting all non-essential power now." Hux nodded, and the ship went dark save for that one lantern. Poe then walked over to where his bag sat by the end of the sofa and began to dig through it for some of his own thermals. "You don't normally frown like that unless something's wrong. No tarine tea, Phasma got put in medical again, you found out someone was trying to kill you. That sort of thing." He shrugged and smiled. "World-ending concerns only." 

"I'd hardly consider any of those  _ world ending _ ," Hux bit back, scathing and irritated. He watched as Poe stripped out of his own loungewear right there in front of him. "Surely you are aware of the way the 'troopers like to bet on anything and everything." 

"Oh yeah," Poe said with a laugh. He struggled into his shirt and, once he'd managed to get it over his head, tugged it down into place, covering an expanse of well toned muscles. He almost regretted that their situation called for Poe to put on so many layers - but only almost. "Didn't realize you and Phasma did that sort of thing, too. What's she got you betting on?" 

Hux glanced down at his comm. "A variety of things, none of which are particularly important." Telling Poe about the bet rather defeated the purpose of it, he felt. He wasn't beneath cheating - he never had been - but he and Phasma mostly played fair with one another. 

"Aw, that's no fun," Poe complained as he tossed himself onto the sofa as well. He drummed his fingers over his thighs. "You won't tell me anything? I mean, I had to dose up again before we headed back to the ship, so I'm not gonna sleep for a while." 

"Whose fault is that?" Hux asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Poe grinned at him and waggled his eyebrows. "If you want to get technical about it, it's yours. You're the one who demanded we fly out here when I was already maxed on flying hours for the cycle and gave me the stims so I didn't kill us both." BB-9E rolled over to them silently, observing. "You got plenty of rest on the flight, but I didn't. I only got a nap. And then we had to go trekking in the snow all day." Poe stretched his arms high over his head and flopped backward. "Least you can do is keep me entertained for a little while." 

Hux narrowed his eyes. "I may have recruited you and invited you into my inner circle, but I can and will remove you from existence faster than you can blink." 

Poe rolled his eyes. "Maker you're uptight. I just meant tell me about some of the bets you've made with Phasma. How'd you meet her, what you have planned, that sort of thing. I've never actually met her, only seen her on holovids and heard stories from some of the others. I'm curious." 

"My father crash landed on Parnassos, she saved his life. He brought her to the First Order. We became allies. My father is an obstacle standing in our way and he must be removed." Hux tapped out another quick message to Phasma, informing her that no, Poe had not  _ made a move _ on him. He wasn't sure if she meant attempting to murder him or attempting to fuck him, but both were true. "She is just as power hungry as I am." 

"Okay, that's not as exciting as I'd hoped," Poe sighed. "Maybe you're just bad at telling stories. I figured you'd be better at it, with the speeches and all." He rolled off the sofa and began digging through one of his bags. "So tell me about some bets you've had, then. That's gotta be a little bit more entertaining." 

Hux repressed a sigh. "I am hardly here for your entertainment." Poe winked at him and withdrew from his bag a whole host of bits and pieces of machinery and tools. BB-9E rolled closer to him, and Poe began popping off pieces of the droid to get at the insides. "We've bet on the outcomes of battles, on the successes of individual cadets, on whether or not some of my more private operations would fail or succeed in specific ways." Hux shrugged. "Phasma enjoys it, and I tolerate it. We have a standing dejarik match whenever we are on the  _ Absolution _ together. The current match has been running for about seventy-nine hours of play time over the course of eight months." 

"That's a long match. What do you do, stare at each other the whole time?" Poe huffed a laugh. "I'm a decent player and a match has never taken me so long." 

"It's strategy," Hux said simply. "We rarely have the time to play for long stretches at once, so it isn't a matter of speed. One of our current bets is on the outcome of the match."

"So what do you get if you win?" Poe asked. He stopped whatever he was doing to the insides of the droid and looked up at him. "Anything fun, interesting? Surely there's gotta be more to life that just… rising through the ranks. I mean, once you have all that power what will you even do with it?" 

"Rule. What else is there?" 

Poe frowned. "That's such an empty life. There's no joy in it. You don't have anything that just makes you happy?" 

The truth was, Hux had never thought about it before. It hadn't mattered. His life had been about survival for so long, and then it had been about gaining as much power as possible so he wouldn't have to merely  _ survive _ . He'd always thought of happiness as some mystical thing that didn't really exist. It was another commodity that people sold themselves, convinced themselves was real to invent meaning where there was none. 

"For example," Poe said, his voice soft and gentle, but not quite pitying, "I like flying. It makes me happy. That's the reason I do it all the time. I max out my flying hours every single day chasing that joy, that freedom. That's half the reason I left Yavin IV, half the reason I joined up with the spice runners on Kijimi. I'm a damn good pilot, and I know I am, but a lot of that is just because I enjoy it so much." He turned and smiled at the droid. "And take BB-9E here. I like him. He's my friend. It makes me happy to have him with me all the time, to work on him, to make him different, like me. I keep trying to mod my TIE fighter, but no one will let me have the parts I need for it." He shook his head. "So BB here is a good substitute. But it just… makes me happy. I enjoy it." He looked up at Hux again, his smile dropping away. "Don't you have anything like that? Something you just…  _ enjoy _ ?" 

"I design things," Hux said after another too-long pause. " _ Starkiller  _ base, as a notable example." 

"But do you enjoy it?" Poe stressed. "Is it any fun?" 

"I don't see why it matters. It is what I'm good at, what I was trained to do. My enjoyment of the process makes no difference." Poe looked upset by that, for some reason Hux couldn't fathom. Hux was irritated by his distress. It made him feel there was something inherently wrong with him - something  _ other  _ about him, just like everyone had always been able to physically see his entire life. He sneered. "I enjoy making people suffer. I  _ like _ to see the horror on their faces when they realize they've lost and they're hopelessly trapped, unable to escape. They can either submit or die. That feeling, that moment of victory, is one moment I do truly feel happy." 

Poe looked down at the droid again. "At least you feel something," he said quietly. "Most of the guys on the ship? They're pretty convinced you don't feel anything at all." 

It wasn't the first time Hux had been accused of such, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. "I am frequently angry." Poe huffed a soft laugh at that. "I'm not certain why you would expect anything different. The day I met you I killed five of my own men because they were an inconvenience." 

"They were bad people," Poe argued immediately. "They were going to rape Mitaka!"

"Mitaka went with them knowing perfectly well what they were going to do to him," Hux dismissed. Poe stared at him with a look of horror. "They were an inconvenience to me personally. Their misappropriation of funds meant to purchase ships for the Order ranked higher on my list of priorities than their activities with Mitaka." Hux raised an eyebrow. "How do you think Mitaka made lieutenant so young?"

"That's - that's so fucked up." 

"If you don't believe me, ask Mitaka yourself. There is a reason he has the reputation he does." Hux brushed his thumb over his comm. "We all make sacrifices for the things we want. The greater the reward, the greater the sacrifice. A hard lesson to learn, but one I expect you should familiarize yourself with quickly if you do truly wish to take part in my plans, if you wish to rise in the ranks alongside myself and Phasma. We will not tolerate weakness." 

Poe took a deep breath and nodded once, very sharply. He didn't say anything, though. Hux wondered if he would cause problems later. Time would tell. Hux wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he had to. 

**Author's Note:**

> posted this today because its my birthday - it isn't finished but i'm working on it
> 
> a note on the ranks - i'm using examples from us military ranks from the navy & army. hux is army, poe is navy. i needed some sort of realism to my space fantasy, so that was the system i chose to use
> 
> (title from tear you apart by she wants revenge)


End file.
